8/14/2019 Defining Nationalism from a Humanist Perspective in Manipur by Kapil Arambam

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According to Stanford Encyclopaediaof Philosophy, the term nationalismis generally used to describe two

phenomena: (1) the attitude that themembers of a nation have when they careabout their national identity and (2) theactions that the members of a nation takewhen seeking to achieve (or sustain) self-

determination. How we dene such a termin a conict zone, like Manipur, wouldbe hard as nails. This feature is a frankattempt to rebut the question of identitycrisis that plagues us. The endeavourcould be demanding, but perhaps it couldsomehow soothe my deep resentmenttowards our society.

There is a problem area a slightdisruption in realising the term itself.Nationalism, for the Manipuris, shouldbe dened in the context of the Indian

nation in its essence but there is aserious disagreement, as we have seenin the several decades that we have beenproclaimed politically independent. It isone thing the discrepancies in interpretingthe term in its philosophical substance,and quite another for a situation, wherethere is an abiding contention betweenthe legally-formed government and theinsurgents. Ironically, in our state, one ofthem is elected by the people whilst theother claims to exist for the people. Of thepeople, nobody knows. Their tussle haslong been tearing us apart in this hopelesssociety, in which we dont know where webelong to.

Nationalism, said Albert Einstein, isan infantile sickness. He added it is themeasles of the human race. But, in apragmatic sense, there should be a notionof belonging somewhere. We only havesky above us, yet we still cannot imagine aworld without countries or religions. Wheredo we belong to? Precisely, we dont wantanarchy in as much as we dont want the

government and insurgent organisationsto cash in on the deplorable situation. Wedont want to get into the monkey businessthat the power-players have been dealingin. We want to excel in life and follow the

progress of human society.It is comprehensible, in this states of

aair, that nationalism is a pariah lingo.Some people love India, while someothers not. And there is Nagalim. AndKukiland. Is there any process in thegovernment system that provides forchecks and balances in the state? Why is

the government so gutless? But again,the insurgents who lay claim to be ourSaviour, dont understand people fromthe neighbouring hills will still call theValley-inhabitants as Meiteis. Manipur isheading towards doomsday, and it is hightime we put up our guard. Nationalism isa commodity, which we nd abundant insuccessful political people, and which theyuse to trade with our life. In his Notes onNationalism, George Orwell wrote: Thenationalist not only does not disapprove of

atrocities committed by his own side, buthe has a remarkable capacity for not evenhearing about them.

But it could also mean a dierent thingto others. Others, in the sense the peopleof the world and it does not necessarilyindicate the Northeast jungles only.Nationalism is a system of consciousnessthat inspire man to strive for autonomyor self-rule. It is also a belief that makesman to wait for central funds and rakein the moola. But it has no scope for thetradesmen legal or illegal who bet onthe land for personal interests. There isno such thing as business revolution inpolitical theory.

We can decide where we can be besttogether. The care for national identityis explicitly divided over mainstreamaliation and recapturing the lost powersof a former sovereignty. We have alanguage. We have a history. We have aphilosophy. Then, we are human beingsjust like others. It is miserable to observepeople through the narrow prism of

ethnicity and race. We are responsiblefor ourselves. Just like other societies.We belong to humanity. We can keepnationalism back for the sake of posterity,at least.

Defning Nationalism rom aHumanist Perspective in ManipurBY KAPIL ARAMBAM

Nationalism is a set of beliefs taught to each generation in which the Motherlandor the Fatherland is an object of veneration and becomes a burning cause for

which one becomes willing to kill the children of other Motherlands or Fatherlands.Howard Zinn